The article deals with the topic of peasantry – one of the most important topics in M. Gorky’s socio-cultural paradigm, which still presents a challenge in M. Gorky’s studies. The comprehensive coverage of the problems of ‘town and country’, the ‘peasants and revolution’ based on the biographical facts, prose, essays and the author’s correspondence of the 1920s – early 1930s, conclusively disproves the persistent claim of Gorky’s ‘dislike’ and his ‘distrustful’ attitude towards the peasant.